Consists of 65 short, elementary school compositions written by children from Wilbraham, Massachusetts from 1866 to 1880, though most are undated. Some of the compositions are on topics such as the battle of Bunker Hill, Christmas, farming, the Fourth of July, the schoolroom, or time pieces; however, the majority describes animals, both domestic and wild, including cats, dogs, foxes, squirrels, woodchucks, birds, and horses. The collection reflects a variety of penmanship styles, as well as differing abilities to express ideas through writing.